Season Two Ships

The alien spacecraft appearing in season two of Lost in Space are somewhat lacklustre in comparison with the ships in “The Derelict,” “Invaders from the Fifth Dimension,” and “The Keeper,” although they were all probably cost-effective from a production point of view.

The truly odd-ball ships featured this season are the bird-cage elevator themed ship of Mr. Zumdish in “The Android Machine.” The same ship is also heard but not seen in “The Toymaker.” Sheriff Claudius' lock-up spaceship in “West of Mars” is a similarly thematic and cost-effective set.

The only other notable ships seen in this season include the frog-headed alien’s in “The Golden Man.” Oddly enough (but appropriate thematically, since it is for an amphibian) it comes draped in foliage, although this may have been intended as camouflage. “Mutiny in Space” has an HMS Bounty themed ship, complete with exterior rigging and cannon hatches.

In other episodes where alien ships appear, they do so only as rather nondescript background props or in the stock take-off shot of Jim Hapgood’s ship from season one. “Rocket to Earth,” however, does feature a full-sized exterior, with interior shots taken, probably, from “Space Raft.”

Given the number of episodes in the second season where alien spacecraft are seen, it is rather disappointing that cost-effectiveness outweighed production values. On the other hand, the tongue-in-cheek “thematic” ships of Zumdish and Claudius do have a certain appeal.